Negative-registering device



A. T. KOPP'E.

NEGATIVE REGISTERING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 31.1921.

1,417,749. Patented May 30, 1922.

, 1 s SHEETSSHEET 1.

INVENTOR.

flizzarmer 2" /(0 9 26 BY I 1 I/ A TTORNE Y.

A. L KOPPE. NEGATIVE REGISTERING DEViCE.

APPLICATION FILED 0.0T. 31. 1921.

1,417,749. I Patented May 30, 1922.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

fi i

INVENTOR.

BY I

A TTORNE Y.

A. T. KOPPE.

NEGATIVE REGISTERING DEVICE| APPLICATION FILED OCT. 3h 192K, v 1,417,749. Patented May 30,1922.

3 SHEETSSHEET 3- IIYVENTOR.

fl/eiarzderf (fa ape BY I ATTORNEY.

ALEXANDER T. KOPPE, OF CHICAGO,

NEG-ATIVE-REGISTERIN G DEVICE.

ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OFFSET DIRECTOPLATE OF ILLINOIS.

Application filed October 31, 1921.

To all whom it may concern:

c it known that I, ALEXANDER T. KoPPE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Negative-Registering Devices, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to a device for registering negatives for use in connection with machines for producing offset press plates, which machines involve mechanical means for accurately moving and spacing a carriage supporting the negative over the sensitized press plate for successive exposure and for multiple reproduction of the subject upon the press plate, whereby offset press plates may be rapidly and accurately produced,

one press plate for each color in multi-color printing, on which the spaced printing surfaces on each press plate will be identically spaced with relation to the printing surfaces on the other press plates, and exact registration had of the different color impressions in the successive printing operations.

A further object is to provide a registering device particularly adapted for use in connection with an offset press plate producing machine, said registering device being so constructed that a plurality of negatives may be placed in identical registration, one after the "other in a chase. The chase being removable from the registering device, and providedwith means whereby it may be received and supported in the press plate machine in the same position during successive operations.

further object is to provide a registering device for negatives used in multi-color printing, said registering device comprising a base, means for detachably holding a chase on saidbase, gage blocks having scales thereon movable towards and from each other and carried by the base and adapted to be placed in registration with marks on the negative, said chase being provided with adjustable quoins for holding the negative in the chase in such a manner that it will be securely held when the chase as a whole is transferred to a machine for making offset press plates.

A further object is to provide screw means for adjusting inwardly and outwardly the gage blocks carried by the base, said screw Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 30, 1922. Serial No. 511,926.

means comprising a shaft having right and left threads, one of said gage blocks being threaded on the left handed thread of the shaft and. the other gage block on the right handed thread of the shaft, thereby being so mounted on the shaft that when the shaft is rotated, both gage blocks will be simultaneously moved inwardly or outwardly. Also to provide guide rods in parallel relation to the shaft and located on each side thereof, said guide rods extending through the gage blocks and provided with coiled springs interposed between the inner. ends of the gage blocks and lugs of the base, and forming means for facilitating the longitudinal movement of the gage blocks.

A further object is to provide the base with a plurality of apertures adjacent the opposite sides of the chase, said apertures being adapted to receive threaded pins, which pins are received in apertures 0f the chase and form means whereby the chase may be accurately replaced on the base after the same has been removed from the base, placed in the machine for making offset plates and replaced on the base, said apertures at each side of the base and adjacent the opposite sides of the chase, in combination with the pins threaded therein, by various sizes of the base.-

Vith the above and other objects in view the invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts as hereinafter set forth, shown in the drawings, described and claimed, it being understood that changes in the precise embodiment of the invention may be made within the scope of what is claimed without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a top plan view of the base of the registering device;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the chase;

Figure 3 is a perspective view of one of the negatives;

Figure 4 is a top plan view of the registering device, showing the negative disposed therein;

Figure 5 is a longitudinal sectional view through the registering device taken on line 5-5 of Figure 4.

forming means where- Figure 6 is a detail view of a portion of the base, parts being broken away to show the guiding means for the gage blocks.

, Figure 7 is an enlarged detail view of one corner of the chase, and a portion of the negative carried thereby.

Figure 8 is a detail sectional view through one of the quoins and-one side of the chase, said section being taken on line 8+8 of Figure 7.

Figure 9 is an enlarged detail sectional view through one side of the chase and base, showin the interengaging means between said chase and base.

In making offset press plates for multicolor printing, a separate plate and impres sion for each color must be had, and as the large press plates usually are made for multiple reproduction of the same subject or many different. subjects with each impression, the difliculty, and the thing which consumes much time, is, in multi-color printing, to produce the printing surfaces on the press plates for the separate printing operations so as to be exactly similar with respect to relative location and spacing. In other words the different color plates'must be exact with respect to location and spacing of the subject or subjects in order that proper registration between the different color impressions will be had.

In making ofi'set press plates, the printing surface is photographically.produced on a zinc plate, called the press plate, by the use of a glass negative containing the subject, the negative being photographically made from an original drawing in black. Assuming that the subject is to be produced or printed in three colors, a separate negative is made for each color from the same drawing, and all that portion of the subject not to be printed in the particular color is blocked out on the negative. The drawing is provided with register marks at opposite margins thereof, which marks as well as the subject or portions of the subject for each color will have the same relative location and spacings on the negatives, so that the nega tives if placed one upon the other would show the register marks and subject in exact registration. The difficulty and laborious task, however, comes when it is desired to produce the same subject many times on a single press plate, and a plate for each color, so that there will be exact registration of the separate printing operations.

In certain types of machines for making offset press plates, the negative is mounted in a frame which is in turn detachablyj mounted on a carriage which is accurately spaced for the successive exposures by precision mechanical means. It follows, therefore, that when the chase lha'ving a negative therein is provided with means whereby it may always be mounted in the exact same position on the carriage, and the respective negatives are identically mounted in the chase, the multiple printing surfaces on each press plate as produced will be in perfect openings 5, into which spacing blocks 6 disposed within the base 3 project and have their upper faces flush with the upper face 4 of the base 3. The blocks 6 are provided with register marks '7 as shown, and the blocks are adjusted simultaneously from each other by means of a rotatable shaft 8, rotatably mounted in bearings 9 of the base. An adjusting screw 10 cooperates with one end of the shaft 8 and forms means whereby the frictional engagement with the shaft and various parts carried thereby may be reduced to a minimum. Shaft 8 is provided with right 'and left handed threads 11 on which is threaded adjusting blocks 6. The blocks 6 are guidable longitudinally in the aligned slots 5, and it will be seen that as the shaft 8 is rotated in one direction or the otherthat the blocks 6 will be simultaneously moved inwardly or outwardly. One end of the shaft 8 is provided with a finger engaging member 12 adapted to be grasped by the operator for rotating the shaft 8. Finger engaging member 12 is provided with a scale 13, which cooperates with a scored line 14 carried by a boss of the base 3 whereby a fine adjustment of the blocks 6-may be recorded and noted. In order that the register blocks 6 may always be maintained in exact alignment, said blocks are slidably mounted and have close fits on rods 15, which are in parallel relation to the shaft 8. The rods 15 are fixedly mounted in the downwardlyextending lugs 16 carried by the base 3 as clearly shown in Figure 6. In order that there will be no lost motion between the register blocks. 6 and the threaded shaftS in the adjustment of the blocks 6, coiled springs 17 are provided, which springs surround the rods 15 and are interposed'between the inner ends of the blocks 6 and the downwardly extending lugs 16 adjacent said ends. By providing said springs the adjustment of the blocks will always be precise. The base 3 adjacent its longitudinal sides 18 is provided with spaced threaded apertures 19,

which apertures receive threaded pins 20 and have their ends 21 extending upwardly above the face 4' of the base 3. By providing a plurality of apertures 19 adjacent the edges 20 being adapted to have their ends 21 enter the apertures 22 in the sides 23 of the chase 1 and have tight fits therein, but not so tight as to prevent the operator from easily graspmg the opposite sides of the chase and removing the same from the base 3. By proriding the pins 20, it will be seen that when the pins are in any particular holes 19 and the chase thereon no matter how often the chase is removed and replaced, it will always occupy the same position on the base 3.

The operation is as follows when press plates for a three color job are to be prepared. To this end three negatives are prepared in the usual manner, one for each color, and each negative 24 will have thereon register marks 25 in the form of a cross, which register marks of the several plates, being photographically produced from the original drawing, will have the exact same location on each negative with respect to the subject thereon. The chase 1 having previously been positioned on the base 3, and on the pins 20, one of the negatives 24 is then placed within the chase as shown in Figure 4, and the register blocks 6' are then adjusted so as to bring any part of the cross register marks 7 thereon in exact registration with the cross register marks 25 of the negative. During this operation the registration of the marks 25 and 7 may be ob served through the glass negative. After the marks 25 and 7 have been properly registered the quoins 26 of the chase are next manipulated by means of the thumb nuts 27 which are threaded on the threaded shafts 28 carried by the quoins 26 for moving said quoins inwardly into clamping engagement with the edges of the negative within the chase. After the negative 24 has been securely clamped in the chase. 1, the chase is then removed and applied to the machine for making ofiset press plates for mechanically and exactly spacing and moving the ne ative over a sensitized press plate on which the subject of the negative is to be produced singly or in multiple to produce the printing surfaces thereon, as in the manner well understood in the art. It is to be understood that no matter what type of spacing machine is used, pins similar to pins 20 are to be provided on the carriage for the reception of the chase in the same manner that the chase 1 is held on the base 3,'hence the positioning of the chase on the carriage, and on the base will alwaysbe relatively the same. It follows from the foregoing that as the second and third color press plates are made, the negatives may always be easily and quickly mounted in the chase by the use of the register device so that the printing surfaces of one plate will have exact registration with the other plates.

From the above it will be seen that a re istering device for multi-color printing negatives is provided, which device is simple in construction, and so constructed that a negative may be actually positioned in achase, which chase is detachably mounted on a base in such a manner that the chase may be easily removed and replaced on the base and that successive negatives may be held in said chase in such a manner that their subjects will register. 7

The invention having been set .forth what is claimed as new and useful is 1. A multi-color negative registering device, said device comprising a base, a chase detachably disposed on the base and adapted to receive a negative, means for holding the negative in the chase, and adjustable gage means carried by the base and adapted to cooperate with centering marks on the negative.

2. A multi-color negative registering device, said device comprising a base, a chase disposed on said base, interengaging means between the chase and the base for holding the chase detachably but against lateral movement, adjust-able blocks carried by the base and disposed beneath the chase and having scales thereon for cooperating with centermg marks on a negative within the chase andmeans carried by the chase for holding the negative against movement after the same has been adjusted.

3. A negative registering device, said device comprising a base, a rigidly held and removable chase mounted on said base, gage members carried by the base and adapted to cooperate with centering marks on a negative within the chase, and means for holding said negative against movement in the chase.

4. A negative registerin device comprisin a base, a removable c ase disposed on said base and adapted to receive a negative having centering marks, an adjustable gaging means carried by the base and adapted to cooperate with the marks on the negative and means .for holding the negative against movement in the chase.

5. A negative registering device comprising a base, a rigidly held and removable chase disposed on said base, said chase being adapted to receive a negative having a centering mark, adjustable gaging means carried by the base and cooperating with the centering mark on the negative and means for clamping the negative in the chase.

6. A negative registering device comprising a base, a removable chase held on the base against lateral displacement, gage blocks having scales thereon, said blocks being longitudinally movable in elongated other block on the left handed thread, means whereby said shaft may be rotated for simultaneously adjusting the gage blocks inwardly or outwardly, and means carried by the chase for clamping a negative having a 7 ing a negative therein, of gage blocks carried by the base and provided with scales adapted to cooperate with centering marks on a negative, said gage blocks being simultaneously adjustable inwardly and outwardly.

8. The combination with a negative registering devicecomprising a base, a removable chase carried bysaid base, means for clamping a negative in said chase, of gage means carried by the base and adapted to cooperate with a mark on the negative in the chase.

9. The combination with a negative registering device comprising a base, a removable chase carried by said base and adapted to receive and hold therein a negative having a mark thereon, of gaging means carried by the base, and cooperating with centering marks on the negative, said gaging means comprising aligned blocks slidably mounted in the base in registration with opposite sides of the chase, a threaded shaft extending through said blocks and provided with right and left hand threads, and forming means whereby said blocks may be simultaneously adjusted inwardly and outwardly. I

10. The combination with a negative registering device comprising a base, a chasedisposed on said base and adapted to receive and hold a negative having centering mark thereon, adjustable gaging means carried by the base, of detachable interengaging chase may be accurately replaced after removal, said detachable interengaging means comprising interengaging apertures and plIlS.

12. The combination with a negative registering device comprising a base, a negative receiving chase disposed on said base, gaging means carried by the base, of means for holding said chase detachably on the base, said means comprising cooperating pins and apertures.

13. The combination with a negative registering device comprising a base, a negative receiving chase disposed on said base, gaging means carried by the base, of means for holding said chase rigidly but detachably on the base, said means comprising pins carried by the base and cooperating with apertures in the chase.

14.The combination with a negative registering device comprising a base, a negative receiving chase disposed on said base, a gage carried by the base, of means for holding said chase rigidly but detachably on the base, said means comprising pins carried by the base and cooperating with apertures in the chase and means whereby the distance between the pins may be varied.

15. The combination with a negative registering device comprising a base, a chase carried by said base and vadapted to receive and hold a negative having marks thereon, of a gage carried by the base, said gage com prising aligned gage blocks, a shaft extending through said gage blocks and provided with right and left hand threads whereby said gage blocks may be simultaneously moved, guide rods extending through said blocks and springs surrounding said guide rods and interposed between the blocks and stops. 7

-16. The combination with a negative registering device comprising a base, a negative receivingchase disposed on said base, aligned inwardly and outwardly adjustable gage blocks carried by said base, a threaded operating shaft extending through said gage blocks, guide rods extending through said blocks on each side of the operating shaft, and spring means cooperating with the inner ends of said guide blocks.

In testimony whereof I aflix my si ature.

ALEXANDER T. KO PE. 

